Franco-Dutch War

The Franco-Dutch War (7 April 1672-17 September 1678) was a war fought between France and its allies of England and Sweden against the United Provinces and its allies of the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Denmark-Norway, and Brandenburg-Prussia; it was connected to the Third Anglo-Dutch War and the Scanian War. The result was increased French gains in the Spanish Netherlands.

Following the disappointing results of the War of Devolution, King Louis XIV of France set about undermining the Triple Alliance of England, Sweden, and the Netherlands, bribing King Charles II of England to sign the Treaty of Dover in 1670. Two years later, France, England, and Sweden declared war on the United Provinces as if out of the blue. Louis' cavalry swam across the Rhine River to surprise the enemy, but Leopold I, ruler of the Austrian lands and the Holy Roman Empire, allied with the Dutch. The Dutch opened the dykes to flood their countryside, impeding the French infantry. Louis was unable to defeat the Dutch, and he turned his attention back to the Spanish Netherlands. He fought against an able coalition of enemies for six years, gaining more territory at the expense of the Spanish monarchy. England, which had left the war after signing a peace treaty with the Dutch in 1674, re-entered the war on the side of the coalition in 1678, but its only contribution was sending an expeditionary force to Flanders; a few English troops fought against the French at Saint-Denis, the last battle of the war. Under the Treaty of Nijmegen, Spain ceded Franche-Comte and some cities in Flanders and Hainaut to the Kingdom of France, while France returned Maastricht and Orange to the United Provinces.